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Where do our popular sayings originate?

April 21, 2014: For Pete's sake! Charley horse. The whole nine yards. Beat around the bush. We've all likely used one of these sayings before, but where did they originate? WKYC's Maureen Kyle did some digging and has the answers.
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Most of us have probably used that phrase to express frustration, but where is its origins?

It's a substitute for taking God's name in vain, and instead invokes St. Peter.

So that got us wondering… What about some other common phrases we use.

Ever had a charley horse in your leg? The believed origin comes from King Charles of England back in 1640 who expanded the London police force, but didn't have enough horses go around. The new offices patrolled on foot -- often coming home with sore legs.

"Second string" comes from medieval times as an archer always carried a second string in case the one on his bow broke.

When you're not getting straight to the point, you "beat around the bush." Legend has it, people once caught birds by dropping a net over a bush and clubbing around it to scare the birds out. Once the bird was out, they would stop beating around the bush and finally catch their dinner.

When you do something to the fullest -- you go the whole nine yards. Nine? Why not 10 like on a football field? This is actually a WWII phrase. Pilots received a nine-yard chain of ammunition. When a pilot used all the ammunition on one target, he went the whole nine yards.

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Want your question answered by our own Maureen Kyle? Tweet her what mystery you want solved at @MaureenKyle.